


A Little Bit Braver

by 5aria



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-22 01:51:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14298150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/5aria/pseuds/5aria
Summary: Jae often wonders if the strings mean nothing and if Brian and him were the ones actually meant to be. But he'll never know because he's a coward at heart.Or The red string au that i've spent way too much time on





	A Little Bit Braver

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first day6 fic so i hope everyone enjoys. First off I want to say the title is based off of A little bit Braver by New Empire (which is an amazing song) and I want to explain the Au. Basically The au is based off the red string myth which says that you have a red string connected from your pinky to your soulmates.

 

 

The story went: they knew each other their whole lives, which was really one big cliché.

 

Okay, so their whole lives wasn't synonymous for friends since diapers but more that they met their first year of middle school as hormonal little tweens with dreams the size of skyscrapers. It was that first day, in the same home period with seats next to each other that spiraled them into the friendship that would soon be irreconcilable.

 

When you sit next to someone new you do one of two things: 1.) you look at their hands to see if their string is connected to yours. 2.) you ignore the string of fates, smile, and, maybe, make a new friend.

 

Jae was the former whilst Brian was the latter. Jae was an optimist; Brian was a realist.

 

Jae spent his free time dreaming of his skyscraper dreams and reaching up to be next to them. Brian spent his free time muddled in books.

 

Jae with Brian- and Brian with Jae- spent their time running breathlessly, talking endlessly, facing day after day and never taking a moment for granted.

 

Jae with Brian was an unsought of light with everything the world had to offer. Yet, that first day when Jaes eyes followed the trail of red from his pinky to Brians he found what he usually always found, the two weren't soulmates.

 

Later on when they're first starting off Highschool – whenever they sit in class studying soulmates and the enigma that is the red string- jae will find himself glancing over to study the red string tied to Brian

 

///

 

The best part of having a best friend, Brian would always say, was having a routine.

 

“I know I can tell you anything, that I can trust you.” he said one day on their way home. “Just like I know every time we walk home you'll stop at this stupid park.”

 

Jae was already propping himself onto a swing when Brian said that. “It's not stupid. It's our park”

 

“Our stupid park, then” Brian huffed back as he pushed Jae on the swing.

 

So it became their park and the visits there were endless. They'd spend hour talking on the swings, kicking a ball to each other in the grass, and chasing each other around the playground.

 

And one night, they had their first kiss in that park. It was unplanned and in the spur of the moment but also thought out and for a good reason.

 

The park was abandoned, with only the two of them still there and no one else in sight.

 

“This way we'll be ready for our soulmates.” Brian said. It had been his idea.

 

The moments that passed afterwards were awkward to say the least. Brian stared. Jae thought. Brian stared some more. Jae gripped the chains of the swing and dragged his feet in the dirt. Brian stared and finally Jae nodded.

 

They twisted in their swings until they were facing each other. The moon and stars seemed directly above Brian and Jae thought Brian had never looked better, so he leaned in first.

 

It wasn't a movie kiss. Brian's lips were soft, yeah, and he smelled nice but the chains of the swings were in the way and Jae had awkwardly positioned his hand on Brian's jaw.

 

All in all, it wasn't spectacular but the kiss wasn't why Jae held on to the memory so closely. It was everything afterwards, when they were still leaning in close and their noses were touching and their breaths were ghosting on each others faces. Brian's eyes seemed to sparkle and Jae knew. They didn't say anything for a long time, just sat there and Jae could hear his heart, or maybe it was Brians.

 

Maybe it was Brian's heart that had been beating so hard. Maybe it was Brian who could feel the blood rushing to his face and the tension in the air. Maybe it was Brian who wanted to lean in again a second time.

 

No, it was Brian who said: “I guess it's safe to say we both need practice.”

 

“It wasn't that bad.” Jae said back.

 

Brian turned away, untwisting his swing, “You think?”

 

he kicked off then, flying up into the stars. Jae stared, stuck in his tangled mess.

 

 

That night as the two walk home, Jae's eyes follow the red string on his pinky. He wonders if maybe his string leads to Brian but its just so tangled up with other strings that he just doesn't realize it

 

///

 

 

Jae's dad leaves the family the summer before junior year. Jae's mom cries and opens a bottle of tequila but really it's no surprise.

 

“He met his soulmate,” she sniffles in the middle of the night when Jae finds her still up. “So I can't even be mad.”

 

Jae thinks she can. He's seen them all his life and strings connecting or not he had always thought what his parents had was worth more than some unsubstantiated myth. When he voices his opinion's to Brian, the other simply laughs.

 

“I'm not trying to be mean I swear.” he says. “It's just, remember when we first met? You were always so into the idea of soulmates. You constantly looked for yours and it's just, I wonder what happened.”

 

“I grew up, that's what happened.” Jae bumps shoulders with Brian. “I was twelve when I believed in soulmates. I now know that its bullshit. Just because two people have a string connected to each other doesn't mean they should be together. I like to believe now, that you chose who you love.”

 

Brian nods, a far distant look on his face. “That's pretty deep.”

 

“What can I say?”

 

“I wish you were right.”

 

Jae stops. “You dont believe me?”

 

“I want to.” Brian confesses. “I just don't think we have control over who we love, strings or not. We can't chose to fall in love because by the time we want to we already are.”

 

“No way. I get to chose who I love and no one is taking that away from me. Strings or not, if I love someone I'll love them.”

 

Brian didn't say anything then. He just smiled.

 

Soulmates, Jae thinks, are bullshit. Because after all the years of research and studying no one even knows what the red strings mean for sure. There's no proof that the person on the end at your string is the love of your life.

 

////

Brian if anything is a good listener. That's what their relationship is built on though. Jae ,the endless talker always knowing that Brian will lend an ear. And Brian always willing to spend hours on end listening to Jae talk, ramble, rant.

 

And then one time Brian was the one who talked and Jae was the one who listened.

 

It's a week after Jae's father leaves when his facade slipped and he ends up in tears in Brian's room. Not an honorable or non-embarrasing thing to do.

 

Brian doesn't judge though. Instead he sits next to Jae and after a really long time says: “It'll be okay.”

 

“How do you know that?” Jae questions.

 

“Because you're you,” Brian says, “And you've got me and i'll help you get through this.”

 

He goes on to list several reasons as to why Jae will be okay and Jae thinks Brian's voice is mellifluous in the sticky summer air.

 

///

 

It's not okay.

 

Even though his father promises to keep in touch he doesn't. In fact Jae's father doesn't even call until Jae's first report card of the year comes in. All bad grades, edge of failing every other class.

 

His mother is furious and two days later (when he shows up out of the blue, with no warning, at their front door step) so is his dad.

 

So it becomes a habit. Jae messes up, he acts out and his mom cries because she just doesn't understand and his dad comes home and somewhere along the way Brian gets lost.

 

It takes a while to notice, which is surprising given how big a part of Jae's life Brian is. Yet Jae manages to skip time he usually reserves for Brian and ignore calls or text questioning when they'll see each other again (soon Jae tells himself)

 

Instead of going to their park after school, he sneaks into clubs. Instead of sitting with Brian at lunch, Jae wanders the corridors and picks fights.

 

He meets a guy named Wonpil. Wonpil with no string attached to his finger.

 

///

 

When Brian catches up to him Jae realizes that, yeah, his mom and dad were furious but Brian is a whole different type of furious.

 

He doesn't even scream at first, he's actually really calm.

 

“Jae, can we talk?” he says one day after school. So instead of scouting for trouble Jae walks their old path home. It's quiet up until they get to the park. Out of habit, Jae goes straight towards the swings.

 

“I feel like I never see you now-a-days.” Brian says quietly.

 

“That's not true. We see each other everyday.”

 

“Not what I mean.” Brian sighs. “You're not around as much as you used to be. What happened.”

 

“Guess I grew up,” is what Jae said. He doesn't elaborate, doesn't say he grew up and had gotten over his school boy crush on Brian. He doesn't say he is drowning and needs saving or that he really misses his parents.

 

“Are you okay?” Brian sits on a swing and cautiously moves back and forwards with his feet.

 

“I'm fine.” Jae snaps back. He wants to shut up then, to stop talking but he can't “I'm fine, Brian so why don't you back off. I don't need your concern I'm doing fine.”

 

Jae takes a step back at the same timeBrian takes one forward.

 

That's when the yelling starts. Jae doesn't know for sure what Brian says. He remembers Brian grabbing onto his shoulder and leaning in really close. Jae can't breathe, his heart starts running a marathon and he almost throws up. In that moment everything he's done the last few weeks, every mistake he's made, indiscretion he's partaken in, they slam into him.

 

Jae stares at Brian- Brian who is screaming with something real and raw, Brian who is worry and care. Jae has the urge to dig up his grave and lay in it.

 

And when Brian leaves in a fit of rage- Jae is left with a pounding heart, wobbly knees, racing mind, and the truth.

 

//

 

Jae likes to fool himself until theres nothing left to fool himself over anymore. He thinks of Brian and goes throught the gallery on his phone (filled with photos of Jae and Brian).

 

He thinks and he thinks and he comes to the conclusion that he cant have a solution to a problem he hasn't yet accepted.

 

So he accepts the very real problem.

 

Jae loves his best friend. It's not an easy thing to do. There's a lot of soul searching and even the mental 'love is love no matter what' talk but at the end of the day he admits it.

 

After the first part is cleared up Jae is still left with a million obstacles. He doesn't know how Brian feels about him, or if this new revelation will ruin their friendship and there's still the part of them not being soulmates.

 

Jae thinks back to the conversation he had back when his parents first broke things off. He remembers his grand statement to Brian: _I like to believe now, that you chose who you love_.

 

And so he would. He would chose to love Brian.

 

 


End file.
